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The Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday promoted Kyle
Dubas Laquon
Treadwell Jersey , who at 32 becomes one of the NHL’s youngest
general managers.

Dubas joined the team as assistant general manager in 2014. He is an advocate
of analytics and succeeds 75-year-old Lou Lamoriello.

Lamoriello shifted to the role of senior adviser last month. Most expected
President Brendan Shanahan to choose Dubas or Mark Hunter, another assistant GM
with the team.

The Maple Leafs set franchise records for points (105) and wins (49) this
season but were eliminated in seven games by Boston in the first round of the
playoffs.

Dubas was responsible for player personnel, the farm system and research and
development. He was general manager of the team’s AHL affiliate. The Toronto
Marlies were AHL regular-season champions for second time in three years.

The Maple Leafs have gone young before in the front office. In 1988, Gord
Stellick became the league’s then-youngest general manager at 30.

John Chayka became the youngest general manager in NHL history in May 2016
when, at 26, he was promoted by the Arizona Coyotes.

Miles Bridges‘
versatility convinced Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak to take a chance on
him in the first round.

Bridges is thrilled he did.

The Hornets wound up with the Michigan State wingman in the first round of
the NBA draft after trading down one spot with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Charlotte initially selected point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander from
Kentucky with the 11th overall pick, but traded him to the Clippers for the 12th
overall pick and second-round picks in 2020 and 2021. The Clippers then selected
Bridges for the Hornets.

”He’s one of the highest character players in the draft Carl Banks
Jersey , very athletic, plays hard and he’s very versatile,”
Kupchak said. ”… There is not much to not like about Miles Bridges.”

Charlotte later traded up to No. 34 overall with Atlanta to draft Kansas
point guard Devonte Graham, a consensus All-American who averaged 17.3 points
and 7.2 assists per game last season. Graham, who is from Raleigh, North
Carolina, is expected to backup two-time All-Star Kemba Walker Vincent
Valentine Jersey , providing the team doesn’t trade him. The
Hornets surrendered second round picks in 2019 and 2023 to get him.

Charlotte initially took shooting guard Hamiduo Diallo from Kentucky at No.
45 as part of the impending trade that will send Dwight Howard to the Brooklyn
Nets, but then sent his rights to Oklahoma City.

The Hornets drafted Arnoldas Kulboka from Lithunia at No. 55.

Kupchak said Bridges can play both the three and four position on offense at
the NBA level just as he did at Michigan State, and also has the size and
athleticism to guard four positions on defense.

The 6-foot-7, 225-pound Bridges was a unanimous All Big 10 first team choice
after averaging 17 points and seven rebounds last season for the Spartans. He
ranked sixth in the Big Ten in scoring last season, 11th in rebounding and
fourth in free throw percentage (85.3 percent).

Bridges is expected to be a better offensive option at small forward than
starter Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who is considered a strong defender but not a
great scorer. Bridges has an NBA ready body and is one of the most explosive
leapers in the draft. He scored frequently on perimeter spot ups and off screens
while with the Spartans as well as on pick and roll opportunities.

”I want to get better at ball handling so I can create my own shot and just
be a threat everywhere on the floor from the 3 to mid-range to getting to the
basket,” Bridges said. ”I definitely want to be more aggressive. I felt like in
my college career I could have been more aggressive.”

Bridges did not work out for the Hornets despite the team’s repeated attempts
to bring him in. Bridges said he had planned to visit after working out in Los
Angeles P. J.
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Some Hornets fans on social media were upset over the team’s decision to pass
on Michael Porter Jr., who went two picks later to the Denver Nuggets.

Kupchak said the team had talked extensively about Porter in the weeks
leading up the draft but decided to ”move in a different direction” after he
cancelled the playing portion of his scheduled workout in Chicago.

Kupchak is off to a busy start as Hornets general manager.

His decision to trade down comes one day after agreeing to trade Howard, an
eight-time All-Star center, to the Brooklyn for center Timofey Mozgov and two
second-round draft picks, a person familiar with the situation told The
Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on Wednesday on condition of
anonymity because the league cannot approve the deal until the trade moratorium
ends on July 6.

The 32-year-old Howard was due to make $23.8 million in the final year of his
contract next season.

The Hornets failed to make the playoffs last season for the third time in
four seasons, prompting owner Michael Jordan to part ways with general manager
Rich Cho and coach Steve Clifford.